Sunday afternoon’s Game 1 showdown between the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers quickly became a one-sided display of dominance as the Celtics secured a 123-91 win.
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Jayson Tatum looked 100% as he and Jaylen Brown helped the Celtics jump out to a double-digit advantage. While the three-point shot wasn’t falling often, they were getting to the rim with ease.
Philadelphia looked a bit lost without Joel Embiid, who’s recovering from a surgery to remove his appendix. The Sixers shot just 6-for-21 from the floor in the opening quarter as they went down 33-18.
Boston continued to rim-run in the second quarter as Philadelphia’s offense did a better job of keeping pace. But Tatum finished the first half with 21 points and the Celtics remained ahead by 18 at halftime.
Turnovers haunted the Sixers all night and the Celtics capitalized on it. In the third quarter, Boston put together a 10-0 scoring run to extend the lead to 25.
Brown had a strong third quarter as the Celtics put up 31 points or more in each of the first three frames. Supporting players like Sam Hauser and Neemias Queta were terrific for the Celtics as the lead surpassed 30 points in the fourth quarter and Boston coasted to the victory.
Tatum finished the game with 25 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists while Brown put up 26 points on 11-of-21 shooting.
For Philadelphia, Tyrese Maxey had 21 points and eight assists.
James Parker contributed to this story.
